Sports

Thursday, Decmeber 9, 1999

Eagles open tourney play at Sandhills

PECOS, Dec. 9, 1999 -- The Pecos Eagles get to play their second road doubleheader
basketball games of the season this afternoon, and will be hoping to do
the same on Friday, but in the evening, not the afternoon, of the Monahans
Sandhills Tournament.

Pecos' boys will face Lubbock High at 4:30 p.m. today in their first
round game, which will be followed by the girls' game against the host
Loboes at 6 p.m. The winner of the Pecos-Lubbock High match-up will play
at 7:30 p.m. Friday against El Paso Austin or Monahans, while the Pecos-Monahans
will face either El Paso High or Lamesa at 6 p.m. Friday. The losers will
play in the consolation semifinals, with the girls' game at 12 noon and
the boys at 1:30 p.m.

Both Pecos teams remain winless on the season, with the girls dropping
to 0-6 this past Tuesday with a 73-48 loss at home to Odessa Permian. Monahans
comes into today's game off a 49-22 loss at home to Seminole on Tuesday.

Pecos trailed by only two points in the opening minutes of the third
period against Permian, but a series of steals by the Panthers helped them
build up a double-digit lead, while foul problems by junior Philly Fobbs
took away the Eagles' only tall player inside for most of the second half.

"I was trying to get them to slow the ball down and not throw the ball
away." said coach Becky Granado, who handled the team in place of Brian
Williams, who was in Oklahoma due to a death in the family. "When we slow
the ball down we can kind of do the things we're supposed to."

The Eagles will get a look at one of their District 2-4A rivals in this
weekend's tournament. Fabens is in the other half of the bracket, and faced
Reagan County at noon today. Fort Stockton took on El Paso Irvin in the
other opening round game.

The boys also have one of their district rivals in the tournament, El
Paso Mountain View, but couldn't face the Lobos until Saturday at the earliest.
Today, they'll take on a Lubbock High team that has been among the top
squads in their tournament the past few years, but has struggled so far
this season, going 0-for-3 last weekend at the Plainview Lions Tournament.

Pecos has been off for the last eight days, after a 55-37 defeat on
Nov. 30 in Crane. The Eagles were outscored 22-4 in the final period by
the Cranes, after the Eagles entered the fourth quarter tied 33-all.

Coach Tino Acosta said his team has been trying to improve on it's halfcourt
offense during their off-week. "It's been going better. The kids are working
pretty hard to get more conditioning in. I think we've gotten the half-court
offense in more now. I've seen some glimpses of it in practice."

Mountain View will face Fort Stockton and Alpine meets El Paso Irvin
in the other opening round games today. The tournament will continue through
Saturday at the Monahans High School gym.

Knee injury ends Barkley's career where it began

By KEN BERGERAP Sports WriterPHILADELPHIA, Dec. 9, 1999 - On a giant screen above the court,
Charles Barkley was dunking and jawing, tossing the ball at his opponents
in a highlight film from his glory days in Philadelphia.

The real Barkley, the one who is 36 years old, was only moments away
from the injury that would end his remarkable basketball career.

In a finale so outrageous it could only happen to him, Barkley ruptured
a tendon in his knee Wednesday night during the first quarter of his farewell
game in Philly. A celebration in the city where his career began turned
into Barkley's last game in the NBA.

"There were a lot of people here who saw me play my first game and saw
me play my last game," said Barkley, who went down with 4:09 left in the
first quarter of the Sixers' 83-73 victory over Barkley's Houston Rockets.

"I am a little sad. I cried a little bit. But I've got too many memories
to let tonight end on a bad note."

Barkley, who already announced that he would retire after this season,
was going up to block a shot by Tyrone Hill when his leg buckled and he
hit the floor hard. His left kneecap bulging badly, Barkley simply grabbed
the knee, put his mouthpiece in his sock and called for the trainer.

The tendon that attaches his thigh to his kneecap ruptured. The injury,
rare in basketball, requires surgery and at least six months of rehabilitation.
Barkley was helped off the court to one of his six standing ovations.

Sixers team doctor Jack McPhilemy said the injury would be career-threatening
even for a young player. Barkley will be 37 in February.

"I knew it was over as soon as I saw it," Barkley said. "I knew it was
over when it first happened. I saw the way the kneecap was bulging through
my leg and I said, `Well, it's been fun."'

The Sixers honored Barkley before the game and flew his mother, Charcey
Glenn, and grandmother, Johnnie Mickens, from his hometown of Leeds, Ala.,
for the celebration.

"God doesn't make mistakes," Mickens said. "He ended it right where
it started. He said he was going to retire, and I took it with a grain
of salt. Now I really do believe he's going out, before it's too late."

Sixers guard Aaron McKie said, "I'm sure he wished he could have left
standing tall."

Barkley's final sequence was like many in his brilliant career. He made
a steal and a behind-the-back pass to start a break with the Rockets leading
13-10.

After two misses, Barkley gathered one of the 4,259 offensive rebounds
in his career, got the ball back and backed in on 7-foot rookie Todd MacCulloch.
The last shot of his career was blocked.

At the other end, he went up to defend against Hill. When he came down,
he knew his career was over.

"The way my knee was, I knew there was definitely something dead-serious
wrong with my knee and that I would never play again," Barkley said.

The newspaper quoted sources close to the situation who asked not to
be identified as saying Leach is set to sign a five-year contract with
a buy-out clause that will make it difficult for him to leave Texas Tech
in the interim.

Leach could not be reached for comment after he made his final decision
sometime after 8 p.m. Wednesday, the newspaper reported.

Leach called Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers from his cell
phone around 9 p.m. Wednesday. An hour later, a jovial Myers all but directly
said Leach would be Texas Tech's next coach.

"It was good visit," Myers said about the phone call, explaining that
that should be enough to figure out what was said.

Texas Tech officials called a news conference for 10 a.m. today to announce
they'd found a replacement for Spike Dykes, who retired after 13 years.
Myers said it would be unfair to comment before then.

During football practice Wednesday, a teary-eyed Leach told his team
he had been offered the top coaching job at Texas Tech when he visited
the school Tuesday.

"They talked to me about the job, they offered me the job and I've got
to make a decision and don't have too long to do it, so I'll decide sometime
here shortly," Leach said Wednesday afternoon. "Right now it's a great
situation and it's definitely one that I'm serious about."

Mike Prusinki, Oklahoma's director of athletic media relations, said
Leach met with Sooners' quarterback Josh Heupel before announcing he'd
received the offer. Both emerged with tears in their eyes.

"I would be lying if I didn't say it wasn't emotional," Prusinski said.
"He said the toughest thing about leaving Oklahoma is the people. He said
it is not going to be an easy decision."

Leach said he needed time away from all the attention to figure out
what to do. He said he liked the vision Tech has for its team and "how
enthusiastic they are down there and how important it is to them."

"It's hard to leave," he said. "I really feel like Oklahoma is really
going to be a good team next year, no matter what happens."

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said the Sooners will continue to support
Leach.

"If that's the best situation for Mike and that's what he chooses to
do, then we're all for him and proud of him and happy and appreciative
of what he did for us here," Stoops said.

After meeting Tuesday with Tech Chancellor John T. Montford in Dallas,
Leach flew to Lubbock for meetings, dinner and a campus tour.

He became the leading candidate after Clemson offensive coordinator
Rich Rodriguez said he no longer would pursue the job. Montford said there
are many "applicants" when asked whether Leach is the only remaining candidate.